Sailor's book reveals secrets about long-lost father

Alan Boinus, left, and World War II Veteran Dolph Brostrom hold a copy of Brostrom's book, "One Sailor's Journey: Tales from World War II." The book features stories of Brostrom with Boinus' father, Sam Boinus. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LAGUNA BEACH – He knew his father as an insurance salesman.

Each morning when Alan Boinus was a teenager, his father would shut off a buzzing alarm that woke the whole family. He remembers his father wore a sharp suit. He remembers his dad grabbed a briefcase packed with Mutual of Omaha policies.

Before his father left their Los Angeles home, he'd call out in a raspy voice and wave goodbye with a right hand that shook so badly he learned to write with his left. He told Alan he was injured in the Navy when his ship was bombed during World War II. He offered no more details.

When Sam Boinus set his hefty briefcase down at night, the family would catch hints of another life.

Alan loved when his father would create adventures, building "mystery tents" with blankets so there was a place to play inside the house. His father convinced him to try sardines, but Alan didn't share his love for the smelly fish.

His father followed news and politics, idolizing Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. Alan was inspired when he heard his dad had spoken out in favor of California's Fair Employment and Housing Act.

Sam would tell what Alan presumed were fish tales, about a massive barracuda he nearly caught in the South Pacific or how he coined the nickname "Tricky Dick" for President Richard Nixon.

Sam, a proud Jewish father, hosted an elaborate bar mitzvah for Alan on Jan. 6 and 7, 1967. The family was so exhausted that when his father's 53rd birthday came around Thursday, they promised to celebrate the coming Saturday.

On Friday morning, the alarm buzzed and Sam Boinus didn't turn it off.

"To this day, I cannot stand the sound of buzzers," said Alan, who now lives in Laguna Beach with his wife. "It always makes me think of that dreadful day."

His father, who had died of a heart attack, stayed alive in his memory, like when he tied his tie, as his father had taught him, before meeting marketing clients. Or when Alan, an activist like his father, worked to shut down the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

But Alan Boinus knew there was more.

"It's always been my journey to find out more about my dad," Alan said.

•••

Since the Internet became the Internet, Alan has spent part of his father's birthday, on Jan. 12, searching Google for "Sam Boinus" in hopes of discovering anything about his father's time working on film sets, his military record or any newspaper clipping.

Alan Boinus, left, and World War II Veteran Dolph Brostrom hold a copy of Brostrom's book, "One Sailor's Journey: Tales from World War II." The book features stories of Brostrom with Boinus' father, Sam Boinus. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
World War II Veteran Dolph Brostrom opens up his book, "One Sailor's Journey: Tales from World War II," and shows his portrait taken in 1942 when Brostrom was around 21. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Alan Boinus with his father, Sam Boinus, during Alan's bar mitzvah in Los Angeles some 45 years ago. This is the last photo of father and son together, as Sam Boinus died from a heart attack the following week. MARK SHEELER, COURTESY OF ALAN BOINUS
Alan Boinus holds an iPad with a photo of him and his father, Sam Boinus, during his bar mitzvah in 1967. It was the last photograph of father and son together. Alan recently learned his dad hid the fact he was Jewish as he fought in World War II. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
World War II Veteran Dolph Brostrom, left, uses a magnifying glass to look at his former Navy crewmembers in a photograph that Alan Boinus, right, showed him. Alan's father, Sam Boinus, was among crew in the photo, dating back to around 1943. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
In an undated photo from around 1943, a magnifying glass reveals Sam Boinus among a group of Navy crewmembers on the island of New Caledonia. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sam Boinus' Navy identification card, issued when he enlisted as a yeoman second class at 30 years old in 1943. Boinus served with the ship repair crew AD-40 in the South Pacific. COURTESY OF ALAN BOINUS
Lighthouse in New Caledonia, where Sam Boinus was stationed as he served with the Navy during World War II. COURTESY OF ALAN BOINUS

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